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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3434 ..

process in this Bill which provides for both parents and the child (if he or she is 14) to have an input into the decision.

In relation to registration of births this Bill gives equal responsibility to both parents and does not discriminate between mothers and fathers. It extends the time for registration of a birth from 28 days to 60. Out-dated legitimation provisions and discriminatory provisions regarding acknowledgment of paternity are replaced by provisions allowing the addition of parentage information to a birth record after registration.

Requirements for notification of disposal of human remains are streamlined by this Bill and duplication of Coroner's Act provisions is removed.

An important feature of this Bill is the part dealing with legal recognition of gender reassignment. The provisions are based on those in the New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1995. A person who has undergone gender reassignment surgery will be able to apply to have his or her birth record altered to show the new sex. Any birth certificates issued after that will show the new sex only. The new birth certificate will be conclusive evidence for the purposes of ACT law that the person is of the gender shown in it.

The Bill will allow the ACT to accept certificates about change of sex from other jurisdictions which legally recognise gender reassignment.

There is also provision to allow children of persons who have had gender reassignment surgery to have access to their parent's original birth record.

These provisions will remove the existing barriers to full recognition of the new identity of post-operative transsexuals within the ACT. The ACT Discrimination Act already makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of transsexuallity.

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